I get to be her mom.
It's been 10 months. (Sidebar-I'll pay you $1000 to tranquilize the minion that runs the second hand around the clock so fast-THIS IS NOT THE AMAZING RACE for crying out loud). She's a bit of a diva, our sturdy little dark haired beauty. Last Mother's Day,we were 7 weeks from her due date and my ping pong ball mind was bouncing on each side of the table between cautious optimism and this-might-really-freaking-happen. Those months before her birth were a nervous, ... View the Post

He had no idea why we were going to Kansas.
9 months earlier we had told Tucker he was getting a baby sister. He squealed. My heart leapt. He was so excited and felt strongly that his new baby sister should be named Parker. We told him we'd take it under consideration. And so the baby prep for all of us began-his little 4 year old heart included. We let him tell each of our family members-his opening line was, "So you know how I've been praying for a baby for EVER? Well... We're getting ... View the Post

She ordered extra powdered sugar for her waffle.
As if I needed one more reason to love her. We met her for brunch in the middle of America, surrounded by the perfect small town that would be our daughter's birthplace. Six weeks earlier, we had no idea the other one even existed. Today we were learning about each other over waffles, beginning to comprehend that this event happening in 4 months would connect us for the rest of our lives. We talked about our hopes for the baby in her belly. We ... View the Post

January. We let it sink in. The decision we'd just made. The words we'd just spoken had been thrown about in our own heads, wrestled to exhaustion more and more often over the last year. But they'd never been uttered aloud with any finality. That they were finally pulled forth from our heads and tumbled out audibly- with intention-was a sign that it was time for the conversation.
"I'm ready to think about when we should stop."
"It's probably time. It shouldn't be this ridiculously hard. ... View the Post

I don't write in this space as often as I once did. Life, man, life.
But today, I have the flu! Wait-that didn't transition as well as I thought it would. For real though, things are looking up- I just popped my 3rd Tamiflu and I've got some time to catch up in this space. My sweet husband-turned-nurse has set me up in quarantine in our bedroom with an appropriate bag of snacks that include mini Chips Ahoy and Nilla Wafers (have mercy, I love that man) which means I can finally finish this ... View the Post

I have no good excuse whatsoever as to the length between my last post and this one. And now it's the end of the year. Instead of a thoughtful and eloquent post about reflecting on the season, taking time to enjoy, slowing down and being present...I'm taking it to the gutter. Ok, not exactly. But I've got my sassy pants on today, seems my sappy pants are in the pile of laundry that Tucker is (piece by piece) hurling out of the hamper so he can use it as a cage. For the 3rd time in the last hour. ... View the Post

Who Is This Rookie?

I don't trust people who don't like sweets. Monica Gellar is my spirit animal. I work. I write. I mom. I pray. I wife. I eat. I go. First kid was born at 24 weeks and spent 151 days in the NICU-well that didn't go as planned. He fought and we cheered. I started writing during that time. Second kid was born on a Thursday night-her birthmom's hand in mine both of us crying happy tears. You'll find posts here about cheesecake, adoption, kindergarten shenanigans, hard stuff, Dolly Parton and whatever else I want. And you'll like it young lady. Thanks for reading. I always love adding to the team. Especially if you bring team snacks.